The Shy One
by CUtopia
Summary: Minerva works at a cinema and meets Albus there...


Entry for **"Care of Magical Creatures"** at **"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)"**

 **Extra Credit** **Task:** Consider any character and write him/her as an introvert.

Entry for the **"Chocolate Frog Card Club"** at **"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)"**

(Gold) Minerva McGonagall; **Challenge:** Write about Minerva McGonagall.

Entry for the **"Word Prompt Express"** at **"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)"**

 **Prompt:** 1\. access

Entry for the **"February Event: Teamwork Exercise"** at **"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)"**

 **Prompts:**

(plot/action) Meeting a spouse/loved one for the first time

(lyric) "I count your eyelashes secretly. With every one, I whisper 'I love you'." - _REM_

Entry for the **"Gringotts Prompt Bank"**

Charmed Prompts: (word) Cookies; (object) Wallet; (word) Popcorn; (word) Movie

(951 Words)

* * *

 **The Shy One**

Minerva sighed under her breath as she stared at the cinema screen where her favourite movie, "Mimi and Tom", had just reached its grande finale with Tom admitting that he loved his Mimi with the sentence she could say in her sleep by now:"I count your eyelashes secretly. With every one, I whisper 'I love you'."

She was mouthing along, tears shimmering in her eyes as the pair kissed and bathed in their happiness and though she had seen this movie so many times already, Minerva felt a little bit sad about the fact that Mimi and Tom had found each other, had found love, while she was alone.

As the final credits came on, Minerva hurried to get out of the movie theater before the viewers would. Working at the small cinema really was an advantage for her, as she was able to access the films without having to pay, watching from the entrance, at least if there weren't any guests that wanted to buy popcorn, cookies or other sweets at the counter, for which she was responsible.

It was a uncomplicated holiday job for her – she didn't really have to converse much with the guests and most of the time, she was able to watch the movies. And well, it still trained her ability to talk with strangers a little bit, as she found this more than difficult. Whenever somebody whom she was unfamiliar with would address her, her mouth would go dry while her hands started to sweat and her mind would go blank. Sometimes, she just seemed to be unable to find the right words, and in the end, she preferred to just say nothing, or stay silent about her opinion.

Here, at the cinema, she just had the same questions to ask again and again, and it made her feel a little bit more secure, though she still felt afraid whenever somebody asked her anything that had nothing to do with popcorn or softdrinks.

As the people left the cinema, Minerva tried not to stare too longingly at the many couples who were holding hands and smiled at each other. Would she ever have the chance to be among them? There really was nothing she was wishing more for – somebody who loved her, even though she had problems to really get out of her skin. However, she was extremely sure that no boy would ever notice her, or if they would, they surely would never be interested in her, as nobody liked a girl who was not sure about herself.

As soon as the guests of "Mimi and Tom" had left, new people started to file into the foyer, having already bought their tickets for the next movie that was going to be played this that afternoon. Only a few bought food or drinks, and so Minerva had enough time to watch them as they stood around and waited for the moment they would be allowed to enter the theater.

One particular person did somehow catch Minerva's attention – it was a young man, probably about five years older than her, with brown hair and beard. His strikingly blue eyes were wandering around the room, and as they met Minerva's green ones, she nearly jumped, hurrying to act as if she was checking if she still had enough chocolate bars.

To her internal horror, though, he did not look away as any other person would have done – no, only a few seconds after their eye contact broke, he started to move, walking directly towards her counter.

A nervous smile flickered over her face for a few seconds as he took out his wallet and grinned at her, asking:"Hello... I'd like to have a large bag of popcorn and... do you happen to have lemon drops?"

Minerva gulped hard, the bag of popcorn nearly falling out of her hands as she saw his charming expression. Immediately, she looked down at the sweets, her eyes wandering around searchingly though she knew exactly that there were no lemon drops in her sortiment.

"Uhm... I... I am sorry... I... I don't have any lemon drops...," Minerva stuttered as she filled the large bag with the demanded popcorn, her gaze fixed on her fingers.

"Oh, no need to apology... ah, Minerva."

The young man had leaned forwards a little bit to read the small golden badge with her name on it, and Minerva blushed.

"I am Albus," he introduced himself politely as Minerva handed him the paper bag, showing another nervous smile. "And I would love to hear what your favourite sweet is."

"Uh... chocolate toffee," Minerva answered slowly, her voice shaking just as her fingers as Albus handed her some coins to pay the popcorn. Why couldn't he just leave? The way his smile made her heart race in her chest caused her to feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Ah, a good choice, really. How about you grab some toffee for you and watch the movie with me? I've been visiting this place for the last few weeks and I always saw you standing in the back during the movie. I would be delighted if you would honour me with your company."

It felt like her face was on fire. Her cheeks were glowing, red and hot, and she just hoped that she would faint, as this was simply embarrassing. All she could do was nodd, her eyes fixed on the polished glass of the counter, convinced that he would never want to see her again as soon as the movie was finished.

Little did she know that in a few years, she would be marrying Albus Dumbledore, the love of her life.


End file.
